
Diego Costa could be banned for up to eight games for reportedly insulting referee Jesus Gil Manzano’s mother in Atletico Madrid’s defeat to Barcelona.
The striker was sent off after 28 minutes against the Catalan side on Saturday after a furious tirade at the referee after believing he was fouled.
The Spain international with angry with the referee’s decision, and he launched toward Manzano’s face while making his thoughts known.
This led to a straight red card with the player eventually being escorted by his international team-mate Gerard Pique after he initially refused to leave the pitch.
The game was tied 0-0 at the time, with Diego Simeone opting to bring on Angel Correa to replace Santiago Arias in order to gain a result following Costa’s sending off.
However, it didn’t succeed with goals from Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez securing a 2-0 win for Barcelona.
Reuters journalist Richard Martin revealed Manzano’s post-match report stated: “In the 28th minute the player Diego Da Silva Costa was sent off for the following motive: he shouted loudly at me the following words: ‘I SH*T ON YOUR WH*RE MOTHER, I SH*T ON YOUR WH*RE MOTHER.'”